''The Golden Link'' is a 1954 British

police drama The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...

film directed by Charles Saunders, starring

André Morell Cecil André Mesritz (20 August 1909 – 28 November 1978), known professionally as André Morell, was an English actor. He appeared frequently in theatre, film and on television from the 1930s to the 1970s. His best known screen roles were as ...

Patrick Holt Patrick Holt (31 January 1912 – 12 October 1993) was an English film and television actor. Biography Born Patrick G. Parsons in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, Holt spent some of his childhood in India with his uncle, after which he was sent ...

Thea Gregory Thea Gregory (née Ida Reddish; 1926 – December 2022) was a British actress. Gregory appeared in theatre under her real name, and in nine British films between 1950 and 1956, including ''The Weak and the Wicked'' (1954) with her husband, Jo ...

and

Jack Watling Jack Stanley Watling (13 January 1923 – 22 May 2001) was an English actor. Life and career The son of a travelling scrap metal dealer, Watling trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts as a child; and made his stage debut in ''Where ...

. It was produced by

Guido Coen Guido Coen (1915–2010) was an Italian-born British film producer and film subtitler. He and his family were interned in Douglas on the Isle of Man during the Second World War. He began his career working for Filippo Del Giudice and Two Cities F ...

under his Kenilworth Film Productions, featuring a screenplay by

Allan MacKinnon Allan MacKinnon (1912-1980) was a British screenwriter. Selected filmography * ''This Man Is News'' (1938) * ''Let's Be Famous'' (1939) * ''Cheer Boys Cheer'' (1939) * ''This Man in Paris'' (1940) * ''Unpublished Story'' (1942) * ''Sleeping Car t ...

and soundtrack by

Eric Spear Eric Spear (18 April 1908 – 3 November 1966), was an English composer best known for his film scores and the theme of the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early life and career Spear was born in Croydon in 1908. He participated ...

. The story concerns the death of a young woman, having fallen to her demise inside an apartment building. A policeman neighbour,

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

Blake, conducts an unofficial investigation, which initially seems to implicate his own daughter in a murder plot. Filmed at Riverside Film Studios in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, the picture was one of several

second feature A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

thrillers Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Suc ...

made in partnership by Saunders and Coen. Restricted by a meagre budget and minor distributors in Archway, production of ''The Golden Link'' still stood out for its rich cast and cinematography by

Harry Waxman Harry Waxman, B.S.C. (3 April 1912 – 24 December 1984) was an English cinematographer. Born in London, Waxman won an award from the British Society of Cinematographers for ''Sapphire'' in 1959. His other films included '' Brighton Rock'' (194 ...

. The film was generally well received after its release on 24 August 1954. Contemporary reviews broadly characterised it as an interesting and suspenseful

whodunit A ''whodunit'' or ''whodunnit'' (a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction in which the puzzle regarding who committed the crime is the main focus. The reader or viewer is provided with the cl ...

, in spite of the absence of international cast members. More modern assessments have been equally critical regarding a perceived lack of action, although this too has been matched by recent reviews' approval of the plot, particularly toward its beginning.

Plot

, a young woman plummets four floors to her death into the hallway of an apartment building also occupied by

Blake, a police officer. Initially deemed a suicide, Blake suspects foul play but soon finds himself removed from the case. Notwithstanding, he calmly continues to investigate in an unofficial capacity, searching for clues and interviewing persons of interest. Blake eventually narrows his search to two suspects: the victim's husband, Terry Maguire, and his own daughter, Joan, whom happens to be in love with the former. Learning that she had tried to convince Maguire of divorcing the victim, he deduces both to have had ample motive and opportunity to commit murder. Despite his suspicions, Blake finally discovers neither to have been responsible for the crime, Joan having been framed by another neighbour, the true killer. Erickson, Hal (n.d.)

Cast

The film's cast comprises: *

as Supt. Blake *

as Terry Maguire *

as Joan Blake *

as Bill Howard * Marla Landi as Singer *

Arnold Bell Arnold Bell (23 May 1901 – 12 March 1988) was a British actor. Selected filmography * ''Convict 99'' (1919) - Warder Gannawy * '' Doctor Josser K.C.'' (1931) * '' Josser in the Army'' (1932) - Becker * ''Doss House'' (1933) - Reporter * '' ...

as Det. Insp. Harris *

Olive Sloane Olive Sloane (16 December 1896 – 28 June 1963) was an English actress whose film career spanned over 40 years from the silent era through to her death. Sloane's career trajectory was unusual in that for most of her professional life she was e ...

as Mrs Pullman *

Bruce Beeby Bruce Edward Beeby (21 October 1921 – 20 October 2013) was an Australian actor who worked primarily in British films and television. He was probably best known for portraying Stephen "Mitch" Mitchell in the 1950s BBC radio serials '' Journ ...

as Sgt. Fred Baker *

Alexander Gauge Alexander Gauge (29 July 1914 – 29 August 1960) was a British actor best known for playing Friar Tuck in ''The Adventures of Robin Hood'' from 1955 to 1959. Born in a Methodist Mission station in Wenzhou in China,Ellen Pollock Ellen Pollock (29 June 1902 – 29 March 1997) was a British character actress who mainly appeared on stage in London's West End. She also appeared in several films and TV productions. A devotee of Bernard Shaw, she was president of the Shaw S ...

as Mme Sonia *

Dorinda Stevens Dorinda Stevens (16 August 1932 – 25 October 2012) was a British television and film actress of the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Stevens was born Doreen May Stevens in Southampton in the UK, the daughter of and Winifred (née Lucas). Durin ...

as Norma Sheridan *

Charlie Drake Charles Edward Springall (19 June 1925 – 23 December 2006), known professionally as Charlie Drake, was an English comedian, actor, writer and singer. With his small stature (5' 1"/155 cm tall), curly red hair and liking for slapstick, h ...

as Joe *

Edward Lexy Edward Lexy (18 February 1897, in London – 31 January 1970, in Dublin) was a British actor. He was born Edward Little. Career He made his London stage début in 1936, and his first film the following year. His film roles were a mixture of s ...

as Maj. Grey *

Elsie Wagstaff Elsie Wagstaff (1 July 1899 – 16 July 1985) was an English actress. Educated at the Guildhall School of Music, her stage work began in the chorus in 1919, and one of her first leading roles was as Sadie Thompson in an adaptation of Some ...

as Mrs West

Production

Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, W6 (8677333175)

''The Golden Link'' was produced by

, who under his Kenilworth Film Productions made "about a dozen"

with Charles Saunders between 1954 and 1961. Of these pictures, typically made on a £13,000 budget, Coen stated "style was of secondary consideration", viewing them solely as a means to make a living. While Coen and Saunders made some of these films for major distributors, including

Rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

and Columbia, ''The Golden Link'' was instead acquired by a minor company, Archway. Contrary to its unremarkable financing and distribution, ''The Golden Link'' nonetheless harboured " co-feature aspirations" as a consequence of its popular cast (especially Morell, Holt and the debuting Landi), the cinematography of

, as well as through filming at Riverside Film Studios in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, London.

Wilfred Arnold Wilfred Arnold (1903–1970), also known as C. Wilfred Arnold, was a British art director.Ryall p.98 He was prolific contributor to British films, designing the sets for more than a hundred. His brother Norman Arnold was also an art director. ...

designed the set at Riverside as the film's

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

, accompanying a script by

, his first of three under Saunders,Chibnall & McFarlane 2009, p. 164. and music by

; the picture was edited by

Jack Slade Joseph Alfred "Jack" Slade, (January 22, 1831 – March 10, 1864), was a stagecoach and Pony Express superintendent, instrumental in the opening of the American West and the archetype of the Western gunslinger. Born in Carlyle, Illinois, he w ...

Critical response

Contemporary reviews of ''The Golden Link'' were generally favourable. The critic F. Maurice Speed, published in ''Film Review'', commended the picture as an "excellent, modest British

", a view shared in-part by ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'', which while deeming it "a quite ordinary whodunit", nevertheless argued that "there are points about it that make it more interesting to discuss than many a much better and more unusual film". Moderate praise was similarly awarded by ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', which labelled the film as a "neatly contrived whodunit with sufficient suspense to hold interest", highlighting Saunders' direction in particular. The reviewer nonetheless remained critical regarding the film's lack of foreign talent. A more recent appraisal by the film historian Steve Chibnall and the film critic Brian McFarlane found ''The Golden Link'', alongside ''

The Hornet's Nest ''The Hornet's Nest'' is a 2014 American documentary film about the Afghanistan war, directed by David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud. The film follows two journalists, Mike Boettcher and Carlos Boettcher (a father and son), embedded with a gro ...

'' (1955) and '' Behind the Headlines'' (1956), to not be "among Saunders' best", "suffer ngfrom an excess of talk and too little action".Chibnall & McFarlane 2009, p. 128. Conversely, a retrospective review from ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' found the film to be a "well-crafted mystery", giving it 3/5 stars. Furthermore, writing for ''

AllMovie AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne. History AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...

'', the media historian Hal Erickson notes "a spectacularly violent start" in his assessment of the picture, awarding 2.5/5 stars.

References

Notes

Citations

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Golden Link, The 1954 films 1950s crime thriller films 1950s mystery thriller films 1950s police procedural films British black-and-white films British detective films British police films British thriller films Adultery in films Films about divorce Films about infidelity Films about murder Films directed by Charles Saunders Films set in London Films shot in London Films scored by Eric Spear Films shot at Riverside Studios 1950s English-language films 1950s British films